New CNN Program Sinking in Ratings

As CNN continues to struggle to turn around its recent ratings results, one key new program is showing signs of weakness. Variety reports that the new morning program "New Day" has seen its numbers fall off after a decent start.

"This week, despite exclusive interviews with Prince William on Monday and Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, the show has posted its lowest numbers yet — finishing well behind rivals Fox News and MSNBC," the story reports.

Other dayparts have been headed in a positive direction for CNN this summer, the report notes, adding that "New Day" has been a pet project for CNN boss Jeff Zucker.

“’New Day’ seemed to be hanging in there earlier this summer, beating or finishing neck-and-neck with MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ in the adults 25-54 demo for its first five weeks, according to Nielsen, but it has not been competitive since," Variety reports.

Still, the show is doing better than its predecessor. "CNN is faring better than what ‘Starting Point’ was doing a year ago, up more than 30% in key categories from the historic lows for the network at the time," the article reports. "But with all the pre-launch hoopla for ‘New Day,’ including a shiny new studio for the show and the naming of former ABC News anchor and reporter Chris Cuomo as co-anchor, expectations were elevated."

The report adds: "Looking at the Nielsen estimates for Monday through Wednesday of this week, ‘New Day’ was averaging just 74,000 adults 25-54 — well below the 229,000 for FNC’s ‘Fox and Friends’ and the 117,000 for MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’ It was also 26% lower than the 100,000 the network drew the previous week, which had been the ratings floor for the show prior to this week."